Mid-June: It’s time for outdoors Shakespeare, Off and Off-Off explorations, and Ben Brantley’s monthlong trip to London.

The Times’ chief drama critic has started his annual reports from the U.K., which are read by New York producers the way a Roman haruspex looked into animal entrails for divination. I find the missives fun enough, if sometimes overly star-struck, and it’s not Brantley’s fault our local money men seem to lack a sense of taste of their own. (On the other hand, they are canny to gamble on shows the Gray Lady’s top critic has already endorsed.)

What does surprise me is that it would take an entire month to explore London theater. What surprises me even more is that as far as I know, Brantley has never taken some time out of that month to drop by the Avignon festival, which runs on July 7-29 this year. It’s only a pleasant ride on the fast TGV train from London, and it’s a handy one-stop shop where you can sample what top continental directors are up to. Not to mention that it’d be an opportunity for him to get some decent food because London may have improved but come on! We’re still in June so I hope I’ll get a good surprise this year.

Being stuck here all summer long, I’d love to get some first-hand reports from the Euro-trenches. Yeah yeah yeah, Jude Law in “Hamlet.” But that’s not all there is … or is it?

As if to reassure us that the Times pays attention to “edgy” theater, it usually runs a couple of reports from the Edinburgh International Festival. Please use your powers for good, not evil, people!